A_Future_Pilot: OK, I'm making this topic to try and answer many first time (or returning) Descent players' questions in one place. I'm going to try to get this topic stickied if I can...
1) I just bought Descent from GOG. What do I need to know first?
______________________________________________________ The first thing is to download "The Definitive Collection". (This is how D1 and D2 were originally sold)
here.
It includes the Descent Mission Builder 2 for D1 and D2 and the "Levels of the World" collection for D1. It also includes the Vertigo expansion pack for D2.
The next thing I would suggest any Descent player do is download a source port. There are two source ports in existence now:
DXX Rebirth and
D2X-XL To see some information on both of them (and to see the ridiculous flame war that happens every time they're brought up in the same topic) look
here.
For the Rebirth Windows installer see 4. For info on Rebirth on Mac see 5.
2) OK, I understand that everybody uses a source port these days, but I just really want the original experience [with bugs and all that jazz]...
_____________________________________________________________________ In that case by all means use DOSBox. Be forewarned, however, that there may be issues with getting it to run optimally on modern systems.
3) I'd like to build levels for Descent. How do I do that?
____________________________________________ You'll need a level editor. The two original editors used were the Descent Mission Builder 2, and DEVIL. You can download the DMB2 from the
link in question 1 and you can download DEVIL (and many other useful development tools)
here.
Both of those editors have been ported and improved for modern systems.
The DMB2 port is called DLE-XP and can be downloaded
here.
The DEVIL port is called SDLDevil and can be downloaded
here.
There is one other level editor that is in the works, but probably won't be ready to be used for a while: a built in editor for DXX-Rebirth. It's in pre-alpha stage right now though, and not at all usable.
4) I tried installing Rebirth, but I'm not sure where to unzip the files or where to copy what files. What should I do?
_____________________________________________________________________ You can download a .exe installer for the latest official release
here.
It will fully automate the install process for you.
5) I have a Mac and I'm not sure how to get Rebirth working
_________________________________________________ The location of the data files are in "Descent (1 or 2).app/Contents/Resources/game/Descent (2).app/Contents/Resources/Descent (2).boxer/C Descent (2).harddisk/"
For a bit more detailed tutorial see
here 6) THIS #@%! THING DOESN'T WORK!!!
OR
I have an issue with Rebirth, or the installer, or a level editor, or something else related to Descent. Where can I get help?
_______________________________________________________________________ Well for general Descent help, you can post here and I'd be more than happy to help if I can.
Rebirth and SDLDevil share a forum for help or bug reports
here.
The D2X-XL and DLE-XP forum is
here.
If you have an issue with the installer, you can post in its thread
here on GOG.
7) How do I fly this thing??
_________________________ Well here a couple links that may be helpful:
Various Control Configurations General Descent Flying Tips 8) I have another question that you didn't answer!
___________________________________________ Feel free to post below and I'll help if I can! :)
Hi, I downloaded Rebirth for Mac and the original game (Descent 1) from GOG. I created a new folder on my Applications and copied the Rebirth files and the .hog & .pig from the original game. But when I try to open D1X Rebirth I get the Error message " Error: Could not find a valid hog file...". I already tried to rename the files using lowercase.
